Showing posts with label Nick Redfern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nick Redfern. Show all posts

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Demons and Deer

Thanks to Lesley Gunter at The Debris Field for the following links, both of which are very interesting for their perspectives on UFOs.


"The UFO manifestations seem to be, by and large, merely minor variations of the age-old demonological phenomenon. " (John A. Keel, The Trojan Horse)

Aliens are Demons We start with the following story link at UFO Disclosure blog: Experiences Changes Mind - Aliens Are Demons. Immediately the mind rebels: "demons?" That superstitious Christian fear based crap? But if we think of "demon" as an entity -- akin to Djinn, say -- and strip the label of its religious trappings, we might get somewhere. However, UFO Disclosure does not take any of these ideas seriously, commenting that he and Nick Redfern recently debated the idea of "demonic" forces at work within a UFO context. And the story itself, from "Messina" -- while described in somewhat sexist terms by UFO D. who paraphrases Messina's theory: "...including combining the missed periods of women in the 40's going thru the change of life - into being aborted by the aliens in their spaceship." (I've never interpreted my hot flashes as being alien induced probings, though they sure as hell feel damn supernatural sometimes.) Messina's story, about abductee Camille James Harman and linked to by UFO Disclosure, reports that Harman prayed for clarity regarding her alien encounters as she worked on her book about those encounters:
 "I started to pray, 'God, give me an answer to this whole mystery. I want to have a useful conclusion.' I was then guided to read a couple of books that I hadn't come across in my research. (Later on), a profound feeling of grace came over me. I felt the divine, protected and guided." Harman considers herself a born-again Catholic."
Not just a born again Christian, but a born again Catholic. I find this distinction intriguing for its connection to Marian apparitions and UFOs. I find myself in a betwixt and between place with all this. Fear and religious constraints vs. non-human but not ET alien alien. Meaning, some non-human, intelligent force that's been with us for eons. John Keel is just one of many UFO researchers who long ago came to this conclusion. Really nothing new, yet still a shadowy kind of theory that hangs out on the fringes of UFOlogy. This is not to say other entities also exist, including literal ETs.




Deer Men and UFOs
I've been thinking on deer imagery in relation to UFOs for awhile now, as I wrote about not long ago. Besides the deer connection, the account of other animals and their behavior as signals something is definitely not at all right is a subject I've been following for some years. So I found this link at The Debris Field interesting: UFOs and Deer Men in Oklahoma, at Mysterious Universe. Very cool encounters, and scary as hell. Definite high strangeness!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Thoughts on an Unread Book: Nick Redfern's The Pyramids and the Pentagon

I've heard that one of the theories put forth in Nick Redfern's newest book The Pyramids and the Pentagon; The Government's Top Secret Pursuit of Mystical Relics, Ancient Astronauts, and Lost Civilizations (he must be the most prolific Fortean writer around, besides Brad Steiger) is that the government/military complex was responsible for many contactee experiences.  I haven't read the book, yet. (Just downloaded it to my Kindle.) And of course, can't wait to read about one of my favorite topics -- contactees -- from one of my favorite Fortean authors. If Redfern does theorize that the government was directly responsible for many of the contactee encounters, that fits in with the MILABS theory, for one thing.

Some might wonder why many UFO witnesses, contactees, abductees are so . . . "obsessed." From the perspective of the on-looker -- be they researcher, debunker, or mainstream observer -- it may seem indulgent, silly, pathetic, even, this "obsession." But this so-called "obsession" is often the valid attempts from the witness to find out what the hell happened! So simple. Yet often surprisingly overlooked by others much of the time.

For myself, it gets back to, well, me. Since childhood I've had UFO related and paranormal experiences, including missing time. I am now of the opinion there are at least two things happening at the same time: "them" meaning, whoever, or whatever, these things we call aliens might be, and some of "us" meaning, mainly, the cliched (but nonetheless real) military-industrial-complex. The latter is using the former for their own agendas, and the rest of us are its little puppets.

So yes, I am damn well immensely curious, not to mention pissed off, that either non-human entities or human entities, (or both) felt they could mess with my mind simply because they could. It's certainly possible missing time, various manipulations, and sightings were human caused events. Within the context of covert operations performed upon the rest of us, it's absolutely relevant and legitimate that witnesses, like myself, "obsess" (ahem) over what happened.


It's obvious to anyone who's honest at all that humans have been sharing this planet with a host of other intelligences since our beginnings. Whether some of these beings are aliens from other planets is almost beside the point -- the fact is, we've been existing alongside other entities all along. It isn't a stretch to assume that some humans -- those with power, money and the means to exert control over the rest of the human population -- have found ways to manipulate some of these non-human beings. 

Don't throw it back on us; this idea that we're the ones wasting time and pondering the imponderable. Wrong argument.


Monday, October 3, 2011

Nick Redfern: Alien Abductions: Military Manipulation? | Mysterious Universe

Nick relates one woman's abduction experiences, and her theories on MILABS and ufos/aliens: Alien Abductions: Military Manipulation? | Mysterious Universe. Writes Redfern:


There are those researchers and eye-witnesses (or perhaps “victims” would be a much better term) who believe that alien abductions have nothing to do with the activities of real-life extraterrestrials, but are, in reality, the result of clandestine work undertaken by the U.S. military.
So the theory goes, the military uses the alien abduction motif as a carefully-camouflaged cover to allow for the continued testing of new technologies, such as mind-altering and mind-controlling drugs, and sophisticated hypnotic techniques on unwitting and innocent citizens.
Is it possible that now, after all this time, the idea of MILABS is getting some serious consideration on a more open level among ufologists? I hope so. About time. I don't know if MILABS explains abductions or not, if ET is still involved in some ways, or what, but I do know that the subject has been on the fringe of the fringe and many have not wanted to look at MILABS in a serious way. Maybe things are changing. Leah Haley's recent statements concerning her own abduction experiences have startled a few into rethinking things...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The USSR Cause for Roswell? - Muddled Disclosures

Supposedly. Could be. In UFO World, anything is possible. Journalist Annie Jacobsen, author of Area 51, acknowledges there's definitely insidious and strange events going on in Area 51 and the UFO realm generally, but it's not aliens. (No, it could never be aliens.) Jacobsen and her book is currently making the mainstream circuit, including a recent appearance on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. I knew before she came on that Stewart, who I adore, would mock any hint of alien/UFO reality, since it seems to be an affliction of the majority of the liberal-left-hip to sneer at fringe subjects. He didn't disappoint.

Jacobsen's contention is that yes, weirdness abounds but it's not aliens. It's the USSR and Nazi experiments behind the Roswell crash. And so much more, but all of these strange events have been orchestrated by humans. ET has nothing to do it, nor cryptids or vortexes or magick or anything other than human Dr. Evils.

Jacobsen has interesting ideas about what on, but there's no proof. As is admitted by everyone, but that seems to be all right, for Jacobsen is a legitimate journalist and not some tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist:
Still, lack of proof hasn't exactly stopped the book from sparking speculation on the media circuit and on the Web. In the last day, Yahoo! searches skyrocketed 3,000 percent for "area 51 book." And the tome is penned not by a crackpot conspirator, but a respected journalist.
I'm impatient and cynical with this distracting crap, because it's muddled disinfo. (Which is probably an oxymoron.) Jacobsen's story gets attention, while all the other UFO stories, including abduction stories sans Nazi bastards-Dr. Evils-government experiments, continue to go utterly ignored, utterly mocked. Meanwhile, journalists, writers, researchers, scientists -- those "respected journalists" and the like --  who know nothing of the esoteric world yet decide to take a swim in the sparkling waters for a look-see are blind to what they consider nonsense. They come out with one small bit, show it off as the latest in theory, and happily go back to their rational worlds. Everyone thinks something groovy-weird has just been revealed, and all has been solved: including the "nonsense" of UFOs. Because, as has just been proven, no such things exist. It was really Russia, or Nazis, or ...

We're not done yet. The fact is, there very well could be some truth to these theories. Nick Redfern's book Bodysnatchers in the Desert  brought explored the idea of human experiments and manipulations as the cause for Roswell. MILABS are a very real possibility, and some UFO witnesses and researchers have been writing about this for a long time. Ironically, among UFO researchers, the MILAB "conspiracy" doesn't get much attention.

It's not that Jacobsen's story couldn't be true, or, some of it could be true...it's that once again, our attention from the reality of the UFO phenomena is trivialized and further pushed out to the edges. UFOs, the mainstream continues to insist, are entertaining and fun funny, but they're not real.

If Jacobsen's contentions somehow prove to be valid, (and/or Redfern's, etc.) that is horrifying, and the world needs to know. But what will happen in that event is that the many will accept that as the explanation for all of "it." Once again, we go back to clean dichotomies, something both the mainstream and many within UFOlgy are guilty of enacting.  It has to be this theory or that theory,  it's all aliens or it's all human psychopaths.

As I said, I'm impatient with this mainstream UFO denying stuff, but Nick Redfern has a calmer take on Jacobsen's book, giving us a bit of  background and data that is helpful, even if it does push us further down the rabbit hole. (Once you've fallen in, you just keep falling...:) You can read his review here.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Dark Magic and Crop Circles

An interesting account from Nick Redfern on a crop circles, peacock feathers, and dark magic with sinister intent: Crop Circles and Sorcery | Mysterious Universe.
Although many students of the Crop Circle phenomenon conclude the intricate formations that dominate the fields of Britain each summer are the work of aliens, evidence suggests the world of the Occult may play a far more significant role in the phenomenon than anything that E.T. might ever have to offer.
An odd bit of coincidence here; a few days ago I had posted here on the Orb a dream I had involving crop circles and unseen, malevolent forces: Cold Crop Circles.

This is an interesting idea about magick and crop circles. Like  the UFO phenomena in general, from sightings of objects to non-human entities and abductions, there are definitely  occult aspects to all these things. (That was the subject of Redfern's book Final Events.)

Monday, February 7, 2011

Gary Haden on Eschewing Emma Woods

Another excellent article by Gary Haden at Speculative Realms:The Nausea of an Emma Woods Idiot: Paranormal Celebrity Munchausen by Proxy, the Revolt of the Damned Alive and Making People Sick for Kicks concerning Emma Woods, this time on the responses, or rather, non-responses of the "shrug-so-tiring/boring" variety from researchers. (some who I respect very, very much; but on this one issue, I cannot understand why they think they way they do on this topic.)

Now, this is a hard one because Haden's words are harsh, and as I say, I respect some of the individuals he names. I'm the messenger, not the message. However, again, when it comes to the intentional "mind fucking" as Haden calls it, of witnesses by UFO researchers and disinfo agents, there doesn't seem to be any question as to the acceptance of such devious, manipulative behavior that, well, fucks with people's lives and minds! Yet, somehow, there has been a continued silence and/or acceptance of these doings.

Paul Benneiwitz. John Ford. Emma Woods, for starters. How many more?

It was hard for me to read some of Haden's words concerning Redfern, for example. But Haden is entitled to his opinions. Again, I am the messenger, not the message. Among the many very important paradigm shifting (UFO-wise) elements within Emma's story is the relationship between researcher and witness. What people are still not getting is that Jacobs, no matter what one thinks of his research overall and his theories on aliens, ET, abductions, hybrids, got away with absolutely egregious behavior. Behavior that is no doubt illegal, or would be in other circumstances.

I don't agree with everything Haden writes in this article, though they are minor, nit picky points. Anyway. Read the article. As usual with Haden, it's a great piece, and he is one of the few voices out there continuing to bring the Woods/Jacobs story to our attention.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Charny, Charnie, Chani

Nick Redfern sent me an email commenting on my Calling for Mothman post at UFO Mystic, noting a connection between the name "Charny" (or Charnie) in my dream, and the robot Chani in the sci-fi film (in the "so good at being bad" B-movie genre)  Devil Girl From Mars, which he wrote about on his Contactees blog:
CONTACTEES: A History of Alien-Human Interaction: Devil Girl From Mars

Monday, December 21, 2009

Ninja Bookseller and Contactee Synchronicities



My friend and I were at Borders today, and naturally I had to show off Nick Redfern's new book Contactees: A History of Alien-Human Interaction; since he quotes my article on Dana Howard in the book. So there we are, generally having fun and delighted to find the book on the shelves. My friend insists on taking a picture of me holding the book open to the chapter on Dana Howard. I am not kidding, no more than two seconds after I held the book up, a sales clerk swoops down (she must have come down from the ceiling) and says we can't take photos due to copyright laws. "No photos of books in any bookstore in the U.S." she says. My friend said "But she's the author" (in her excitement she meant I was mentioned in the book, not that I'm the author. I certainly am not!) and the sales clerk snaps "She's not the author" with great authority. I had to laugh and couldn't resist; I said "How do you know?" which of course elicited no response from her, as it should. I was being pretty flip. Giddy with my caffeine buzz gone and the crazy crowds of people all day. My friend said, laughing, "No, she's not, but she's in it," which didn't help matters. I thought we were going to be 86'd out of Borders. The woman walked away but hovered in the next aisle spying on us, like we were two naughty middle schoolers in the school library. We both thought the whole thing was funny; my friend kept whispering "Is she still there? She's still there!"

The chapter I'm referring to is I AM DIANE… I COME FROM VENUS, about female contactees, including Dana Howard. Diane means “divine” -- a being from the heavens, something holy and purer than ourselves from the stars.

My friend, whose name is Stella, (which means Star), turned to me and said "You know my middle name is Diane." That's right! I'd forgotten. So there we were, looking at Nick Redfern's book on Contactees, and a chapter on Diane from the stars, with my friend Stella Diane.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Book: "UFOs, Time Slips, Other Realms and the Science of Fairies"



A nice review of the bookBlows Against The Empire-The ET Hypothesis Comes Under Attack In...
UFOs, Time Slips, Other Realms and the Science of Fairies,
by Edwin Sidney Hartland; additional material by Tim Beckley, Sean Casteel, Brent Raynes and Tim R. Swartz, on UFO Digest by Sean Casteel. The book sounds intriguing and I'm ordering it right away. The book deals with the issue of ET vs. "fairy" or rather, terrestrial entities we assume or interpret as ET. As Casteel writes:

... there is another interpretation, one which, while it is taken quite seriously by premiere UFO researchers like Jacques Vallee, remains a definite minority point of view: What if what we are witnessing and experiencing actually originates on Earth and has been here throughout mankind's struggle to understand the strange environment he finds himself thrust into? Are the diminutive gray aliens so frequently claimed to have visited hapless mortals as they lay abed really just a variation on millennia of old folklore about fairies, changelings, elves and other forms of wee people?

That is the primary thrust of this 2008 release from Global Communications, called "UFOs, Time Slips, Other Realms and the Science of Fairies." The bulk of the book is a reprint of a much older book by Edwin Sidney Hartland, in which he offers a wonderful overview of the folklore of fairies and other mysterious creatures that frequently cross over from their shadowy dimension to enter ours.


This is Vallee territory (among others) as well of course, and I don't disagree. But I acknowledge I have a bias for the reality of ET as well, and I don't see why the explanation needs to be an either/or one. Isn't it possible there are at least two concurrent reasons for phenomena like this, one being literal extraterrestrials from outer space (whether from our own solar system or beyond)? It's also possible one manipulates the other for our benefit -- in order to deceive, which is one characteristic of the phenomena. There's also a symbiotic relationship between us and "them," -- all of "them" -- whoever "they" are, of course.

Looking forward to reading this book.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Nick Redfern's New Blog on Culture of Contact

Nick Redfern, Esoteric Blog King, has a new blog at Culture of Contact. Nick’s entry is: “My 3,2,1 of UFO Hatred,” which is very good. I had to laugh at Redfern's comments on the idea aliens are benevolent:
No. 2: The Aliens are our friends
Pleeeeez! No! Fuck Off!

That's to the point! I agree; why assume, even when we’re told by them (the alien guys) are benevolent? Beware the messenger; just because they say it’s so, doesn’t mean it is so.Anyway, (and I say this even though Vaeni didn’t ask me go join :) -- good blog post over there. Be sure to take a look.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Lehmberg and Vaeni Podcast and Beer

Vaeni Interviews Alfred Lehmberg for Book of Thoth


Very cool, just listened to the interview of Alfred Lehmberg by Jeremy Vaeni on Book of Thoth. It’s great!

One thing that’s great is the appreciation of Lehmberg for Lehmberg’s sake that Vaeni has. Hmm, not sure if that makes sense. What I meant was that, as we know, there are many who don’t get Lehmberg, who don’t like him, who don’t take the time to try. Vaeni is someone who does.

What’s always neat, when listening to audio, is matching the person’s voice to how you’ve imagined they’d sound. Lehmberg pretty much sounded like I’d thought.

Jeremy Vaeni is truly great; and I’m not just saying that because he just interviewed me (to air Tuesday or Thursday on Culture of Contact.) He’s open, funny, honest, and very curious, as well as creative.

Fascinating interview, between two fascinating people.

http://www.book-of-thoth.com/book-of-thoth-podcasts.html#

Gender


Jeremy asked me about gender differences, and you’ll just have to listen to that interview for specifics. Mainly because I don’t remember what the hell I said. But after listening to Lehmberg, I had to laugh: he said (I’m paraphrasing) when someone sneers, he wants to eat their face. And I admit that I feel exactly the same way! But I’ve become passive aggressive; from getting into it with the skeptoid types, to just avoiding them. Unfortunately, this sneer trait goes beyond the skeptoids and there’s many a UFO researcher, supposed adults who should know better, who stoop to such tactics. I think both reactions may be gender based; the sneering, as well as the justifiable reaction of eating their face.

So I appreciate the face eating when I see it, and that’s one of the many reasons I respect Lehmberg. But me, I’m still in my avoidance mode, and just prefer to ignore those idiots.

But go Alfred! And all else who don’t suffer fools gladly.

UFO “Mavens” I’d Love to Sit Around and Have a Few Beers With

Alfred Lehmberg
Lesley
Tim Binnall
Jeremy Vaeni
Kithra
Nick Redfern
Richelle Hawks
Farah Yurdozu
Tina Sena
Snoopy the Goon

I don’t know if all of the above mentioned drink or not, but it’s the spirit of the thing that counts.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Friday, August 24, 2007

Kimball on Redfern

I started to respond to this item by Paul Kimball on his blog The Other Side of Truth about Nick Redfern, Nick Redfern on UFOlogy but it quickly became very long so I’m putting it here.

Kimball has a response to Nick Redfern’s contention that:
I predict that ufology will never be anymore than a subject that attracts a few thousand people on a regular basis (and maybe less now).

Many ufologists confidently think that the world is waiting for them to finally deliver the ET goods and go down in history.

They’re not. Most people outside could not care less about the petty arguments in ufology (and don’t know about it anyway) and unless someone really makes a major breakthrough (along the lines of proving that Roswell was ET, for example), we will not be remembered by science, the media or the public.

I've been saying this for ever: the one, final Answer, The big Answer, about ufos will never come. Never. It just can't, (in my opinion, partly due to the Trickster like aspects of the phenomena.)
Redfern goes on to say that if that answer comes, if it’s shown that ET does exist, science and the general population will forget about UFO researchers, pundits, etc:
In other words, we’ll be viewed as a group of people who looked into some unusual areas in search of the truth about aliens, but never really found any hard evidence that proved ET was visiting.

Ironically, if ET really does land, I personally think that ufology will be swept away in an instant as the public demands answers from the media, who in turn demand answers [sic] from the government and the mainstream scientific community.

(I agree with this, and I think the same would be true in the case of Bigfoot, Nessie, etc. If a dead BF body were found, if it were announced by science BF does indeed, exist, the same attitude towards BF researchers would be present.)

Kimball writes:
So, in the meantime, everyone should focus on the intriguing mystery, and have some fun, because that's what mysteries should be - fun.

This means that there should be room for some of the more "out there" theories (FYI - as far as the mainstream is concerned, that includes the ETH), even to the point of speculation. Where would I draw the line? When people are clearly lying, or when the theories and speculation goes so far as to be preposterous, at which point let 'em have it.

Exactly. some sort of inner journey-process thing going on for some us. And, I agree, if they do land and it's somehow proven UFOs exist (more to the point, that ET exists) UFO researchers will be ignored. They might be trotted out now and then for some entertainment value, but no one's going to really take them seriously; they'll be co-opted and appropriated. Used by the media and institiutions such as science for their own purposes. (The same would happen in the case of Bigfoot or Nessie.)
The public would be interested, as Alfred Lehmberg wrote in his comment to this item on Paul’s blog, and in that sense, the "folk" will jump in, but, being just the folk, no one's going to care. The institutions of science, academia, etc. aren’t going to bother with what will still be considered the fringe element. Even as it’s discovered that ET exists, there will still be areas of ufology that will fascinate, while ignored by the mainstream.

Years ago a professor of folklore told me that if ET were to land tomorrow, “it wouldn’t matter.” I didn’t understand what she meant at the time; what do mean, “It wouldn’t matter??!!” Of course it’d matter! What she meant was, in the context of folklore, it wouldn’t matter. People would still have their stories, the “folk” would continue to be marginalized by the mainstream and the approved institutions, individuals would still have their experiences. Various rituals, beliefs, and processes would evolve surrounding the discovery of ET, and take on their own flavor due to cultures and religious/spiritual beliefs. Even though ET has now been proven as a reality, various and new “realities” would quickly spring up surrouding ET, and it would start all over.

This doesn’t mean, as Kimball writes, we still can’t “have fun,” and for some of us, it’s more than “fun” (though it certainly is that too) it’s very personal on many levels. But that depends on how each of us is wired; we’re all of different temperaments.

It doesn’t matter to me that it will be highly unlikely we’ll ever find “the answer” because that’s not the purpose of this journey. (And, as I said, by definition it can’t happen anyway due to the Trickster aspect.)

So where does all this leave the “nuts and bolts” researchers? Those who work so tirelessly and do their best (most of them) to produce documents, evidence, facts of a case, to show the world? Nothing short of a dead body (be it ET or Bigfoot) that’s been independently verified by a whole slew of scientists will prove anything to the world. And then what? We’ll go on as before, except those of us who, as I mentioned, do this for other reasons other than “proving” something to others. Those diligent researchers will be trotted out as well as entertainment value, footnotes to the big reveal of ET.

That’s okay though, as cynical as it sounds. There’s the outsider element when the truth is concerned in “fringe” topics, and UFOlogy is no different. These same kinds of responses to Ufologists and Ufology apply to the Kennedy assassination and 9/11. If it were somehow proven to the world that the so-called “conspiracy nuts” were right about those things, they’d be briefly mentioned before once again sent back to the fringe while the approved pundits of society argue over minutae on CNN.

That’s just the way things are. It’s okay. After all, I’m having fun.

Monday, July 9, 2007

The Roswell Onion



Well, most everyone’s been writing on Roswell lately, due to the 60th anniversary of “the crash.” I’ve stayed away from saying anything because I have never delved deeply into Roswell, so therefore don’t have much to say. I don’t have anything of value to say about the particulars of the Roswell event itself. But I’ll go ahead and join everyone else and throw in my observations. Why not? That’s the perk of having your own blog.

Clearly, something huge and weird happened that’s continuing to be covered-up.

There’s that very large rut that’s still there, and not often mentioned. That rut is proof something on the big side crashed there.

Nick Redfern’s book Body Snatchers in the Desert offers new, if not horrific, information on what might have happened. And curiously, like that rut, his theories don’t seem to be considered seriously; or rather, they don’t seem to stick. I’m not saying Redfern is correct, who knows at this point, but he’s offered something new, and something disturbing, and something that should be given consideration other than a cursory “yeah, well. . .” and everyone moves on.

The Roswell, er, “mythos” (excuse the cliché) is in itself highly interesting. Stories of sticky fingered aliens, magic foil, and all the rest. All those people aren’t lying. Maybe they didn’t see aliens, just thought they did, maybe some sort of mass delusion overtook the town. It’s too simplistic to dismiss it all as lying townsfolk. Sure, now there’s circus folk involved (so to speak) and layer upon layer of disinformation and misinformation and okay, sometimes just plain lying, but that’s all part of any UFO event. Roswell’s just bigger.

Oh yes, then there’s those alien ghosts Jim Marrs speaks about. That’s highly interesting as hell!

I agree with those who think we shouldn’t spend too much time on Roswell, while ignoring other cases, particularly current ones. Still , to try to bury it once and for all would be a disservice to UFOlogy as well as the more general world of the weird and anomalous: myths, motivations, deceits, belief, government manipulations and more.

Whether or not one believes ET crashed there, something happened, something so important that the government still believes it needs to cover it up. Obviously the Mogul balloon explanation doesn’t fly, and no one took the crash test dummies seriously. (I don’t think the government took that one seriously either.)


Personally, I don’t think aliens crashed there. I’m not sure why I don’t believe that. I “believe” (hate that word) extraterrestrials are about. Out there, down here, and have been for thousands of years. But that’s just me and my good old ancient astronaut theory.


The point isn’t, almost, whether ET crashed there or not. (Well, now of course it is a huge point, if it could be proven. . .) I mean that, aside from that point, there are other layers to the Roswell onion that can still reveal things about ourselves, each other, and “them.”

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Wild Women and Shape Shifters




Lisa Shiel, author of the Bigfoot Quest Blog and Backyard Bigfoot: The True Story of Stick Signs, UFOs, & the Sasquatch encourages woman to get involved in Bigfoot research. As Shiel points out, there are very few women in Bigfoot research. There’s herself, and Autumn Williams, and that’s about it.

Both women are active researchers: they’re field researchers, actually going out there and doing all the physical “nuts and bolts” research things one does in search of Bigfoot.

But, there’s a difference as well. Both of these women have had no problem at all with making public their views that Bigfoot is more than just a flesh and blood creature.

Shiel believes that Bigfoot is much more than just basically a “giant ape” or some other animal. There’s much more to Bigfoot than the simple idea it’s another animal. It’s a shape shifter, it’s paranormal, it’s no mere big dumb missing link.

Williams has a different take on this, but both agree that it’s vital to include all the data when investigating reports, and that includes the stories of UFOs, floating lights, telepathy, dematerialization, and all the other weirdness often associated with Bigfoot encounters.

I’ve found that the few women who are involved in Bigfoot research in some way very naturally include the high strangeness data. They are more open to the possibilities, more open with their own experiences that many consider far too weird to discuss seriously.

(With all due respect, take a look at what Loren Coleman has said about Mary Green. Not pretty. Mary Green is a Bigfoot experiencer/researcher of the “high strangeness” kind.)

Shiel says that being a woman in a predominantly male field has its share of expected nonsense:

Now I like men. But as a woman—even worse, a single woman—engaged in a testosterone-ridden field of research, I can testify to the fact that most male Bigfoot researchers haven't heard about equal rights or women in the workplace. One man told me women don't want to get involved in Bigfoot research because they're afraid of the woods. Come on!


I remember watching a program on the Sci-Fi channel with Bigfoot researcher Autumn Williams. There were others on the team; I forget who, but she was the leader of the field research team and the only female. She was the bigfoot expert, not them. None of the men were in any way overtly asses, but one guy just had to up and mock her, and do stupid things like make ape calls as loud as he could. and this from an adult, who seemed to be in his fifties. I had to laugh at the way Williams really ripped him a new one.

This is the elephant in the room; I’ve spoken to a lot of female UFO and bigfoot writers, experiencers and researchers, and the things said -- and done -- to them at times is frustratingly astounding. We don’t talk about it for a lot of reasons. Females in any male dominated field experience this, this is not news. It’s so typical, it’s boring to even comment on. Still, it does get to one at times. It’s just a matter of fact aspect of being in this field. I’ve been sent ugly e-mails, and ugly things have been written about me openly on-line, by men. I’ve been called a lesbian (not that’s there anything wrong with that) (but I’m not,) a Jew-bitch, a man-hater. I’ve been “accused” of “wanting to write like a man” and, that I “write like a man.” (that’s either a backhanded compliment or so surreal it’s not worth trying to figure out.) I’ve been told I have a “castration problem” and my husband has been called names (he doesn’t even go on line!) simply because he’s married to me; the implication being he’s a wimp. (Listen, the man’s a double Scorpio, believe me, he’s not afraid of nuttin’, see?!) I’ve maintained for decades that the real last threat to some men from females exists on an intellectual level. (I experienced this in philosophy classes in college.) Men are no exception, we’re all called names and insulted. Take a look around and you’ll find insult fests going on between various male writers and researchers that make you wonder how we’re supposed to take anyone seriously, if they behave so badly? Anyway, this somewhat beside the point; I don’t intend to go off an a tangent here. It's a given, and you move on.


Shiel encourages women who are researching Bigfoot to contact her. Please do:

If you are a women involved in Bigfoot research, please e-mail me at lisa@upbigfoot.com. If you have a blog or website, we can exchange links. Women researches need to help and support each other as much as possible—start our own groups, exchange knowledge and wisdom, provide moral support.


I don’t consider myself a true Bigfoot researcher, since I've never once gone out in the woods to look for Bigfoot. (And it’s not because I’m afraid of the woods.) If anything, I’m an “armchair” scholar on Bigfoot, and that includes all the high strangeness stories concerning Bigfoot, the focus being on the anomalous aspects of encounters.

I don’t know if I personally will ever go out to look for Bigfoot on an expedition, because I’m convinced it’s pretty much pointless. Bigfoot will show itself if and when it wants to, not because you’re out there. Following up on stories would be interesting, however, and clues could be found; but it’s all in the approach. Banging around out there making lots of noise and thinking Bigfoot’s going to appear on cue is ridiculous.

Right now there is a possible Bigfoot case in my area that I’ve been keeping track of. The case includes paranormal activity. If I get involved in this further, I will do physical research as well. This isn’t in hopes of seeing a Bigfoot, but rather to gather any possible evidence of something anomalous.

So if you’re a female researcher of the anomalous, including Bigfoot, know that there are women out there like Lisa Shiel, like myself, and others, who are supportive of your efforts.


Valley of the Skookum
I received my copy of In the Valley of the Skookum: Four Years of Encounters With Bigfoot, by Sali Sheppard-Wolford. (Sheppard-Wolford is Autumn Williams’ mother.) I stayed up until 3:30 am reading it. I couldn't put it down. I didn’t finish it, not for lack of trying, but I’m about a chapter away from the end. There’s much to say about this book, including the orange lights seen by many of the witnesses and my own orange orb sighting. But that’ll have to wait for another day.


Linda Martin
By way of Lisa Shiel’s blog, I discovered another female Bigfoot researcher; Linda Martin. I’m not familiar with Martin, and followed the link from Lisa’s blog to Martin’s Bigfoot sightings, where I found she had picked up on my little WTF blurb on Technorati, on accepting anomalous Bigfoot data in Bigfoot research. Martin is open to the possibility of a shape shifting BF, but remains skeptical as well. Can’t ask for more than that.


Notes
Lisa Shiel: http://bigfootquest.blogspot.com/2007/04/wild-women-of-woods.html
Linda Martin: http://www.bigfootsightings.org/
Regan Lee, WTF Technorati blurb:http://technorati.com/wtf/bigfoot/2007/03/30/bigfoot-a-shapeshifter-1
Sali Sheppard-Wolford: Valley of the Skookum

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Fewer Crop Circles These Days


It appears there are fewer circles lately. Nick Redfern on UFO Mystic has a thread on this news. I commented over there that my take on the circles is that they're man made; not by hoaxers, as in guerrilla artists, shills, or pranksters, but some sort of technological weapons testing, or something of that kind related to the good old military industrial complex. Nick mentions that, while the crop circles are fewer in number, there's been a rise in UFO sightings.

Monday, February 19, 2007

A “Keelian Attitude:” Nick Redfern on “The Crossover Problem”




A lot of good things in the current (February 2007) issue of UFO Magazine. Nick Redfern’s monthly column View From A Brit, discusses the uneasy and often opposed fields of UFOlogy and Cryptozoolgy. As he writes
“UFOlyg and cryptozoology make for strange bedfellows.”
The Crossover Problem, UFO Magazine, February 2007.)

Redfern addresses the issue of flesh and blood/nuts and bolts researchers vs. the “Keelian attitude” towards UFOs and Bigfoot, Nessie, etc. This is a topic very dear to my heart. and I’ve commented here and elsewhere (Trickster’s Realm, etc.) on the bigfoot-UFO relationship. I often ask myself why this split is so fierce; I can understand it a bit more from the flesh and blood Bigfoot side more than the UFO side of the Fortean fence, but it still doesn't seem sensible to me. As Nick points out, the investigation of one realm by a researcher of another would mean that
“both camps are in dire need of an overhaul, in terms of what is really going on.”

True. Also, and more alarming, in Redfern’s views is that by ignoring the weirder data, it will be lost. I absolutely agree as I’ve been saying since I’ve had this blog, the stories exist: deal with them!

Nick shares information about Rendlesham Forest, home of the 1980 Rendlesham UFO event. A really juicy bit of Forteana that I didn’t know about is revealed here about the area’s Fortean history, including crypto creatures, that predates the 1980 UFO event.

Nick writes that these “crossover” events (UFOs, Bigfoot, and other cryptids)
“are not going away any time soon!”
The Big Thicket terrain in Eastern Texas (Piney Woods area) has a delightfully rich history of Fortean and crypto stuff, and Redfern shares some of his investigation into this area in his column. H recommends a intriguing sounding book; In the Big Thicket, by Rob Riggs.

As Nick writes, these cases that include both UFOs and cryptos
“make many people within ufology and crypto zoology cringe.”
The majority of the time, this is sadly true. I agree completely with Redfern:
“Both camps need to realize that neither has the answer to their respective mysteries, and both should treat the crossover cases in the same fashion -- and as rigoursly -- as they would any other encounter. If we fail to look at all of the evidence - whether it sits well in our belief systems or not, it’s truly our loss.”


It was refreshing to read Redfern’s words on this topic. One thing both camps also should realize is that this “crossover” aspect doesn’t necessarily negate ET, or nuts and bolts UFOs, or flesh and blood Bigfoot. In this seemingly never-ending realm of Fortean weirdness doesn’t it seem quite sensible there’s room for all of it? That the possibly is pretty strong for layers upon layers, constantly shifting, sometimes mimicking, sometimes standing alone, sometime merging? Why do so many have a problem with this idea?

Threatened credibility is one reason, and understandable. Trying to prove to the world that Bigfoot exists is difficult enough without dragging in UFOs and dematerializing, telepathic Sasquatches. The same for UFOs. But, while I’m sympathetic to that reality, it’s time to move past that.It takes some courage, but losing data due to rejection of what makes one uncomfortable isn’t contributing to research, as Redfern points out.

I think there are ETs (very probably) as I’ve said many times. But for me, that’s certainly not the end of things. One may or may not have anything to do with the other. We'll see, maybe, if we’re lucky. Either way, as Redfern says, the reality of the stories exists, and we just can’t afford to ignore them.

You can read more about this, where the discussion and more info continues, on Nick Redfern's and Greg Bishop's blog UFO Mystic:
http://www.ufomystic.com/the-redfern-files/thicket-encounters/

Notes:
John A. Keel: The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings (revised version of Strange Creatures from Time and Space),

Regan Lee:
Bigfoot and High Strangeness, Trickster’s Realm/Binnall of America , Novemeber 2006

Fairies, Bigfoot and Hauntings Trickster’s Realm/Binnall of America May 2006

Nick Redfern:
The Crossover Problem, UFO Magazine, February 2007
Lake Monsters, Giant Cats, Ghostly Devil Dogs, and Ape-Men Para View Pocket Books, March 2004.

Rob Riggs, in the Big Thicket: On the Trail of the Wild Man: Exploring Nature’s Mysterious Dimensions, Paraview Press 2001.

(image source:image source: http://www.creepy.tv/season3_e7.html)